Maintenance battle plan to keep 2011 Prius to 300k miles

We even have “my dude” replying here too.

 

Not with this vehicle. But it's super easy- Just loose the tire nuts, raise car w/scissor jack, take off nuts and tire. Undo the calipers and the lube the slide pins and caliper sides, and work your way backwards to reassemble. In my opinion this is the most neglected maintenance on cars, brake inspection never includes this maintenance. This is only for the front tires, the rear calipers has an extra step. There's gazillion of post of how to do the rear calipers, I don't want to steal that person's thunder

 

There’s my dude:

He usually includes pics too.

 

Wash and wax vehicle regularly especially if you live in an area where road salt and chemical are used.

Check oil at every filll up. Use 0W-30 or 0W-40 weight oil. 0W-20 weight is crap.

EGR cleaning around 100k miles

Transmission fluid change every 60k miles.

Follow Toyota recommendations on all other fluid change intervals.

Good Luck!

 

Tomorrow, rolling thunder...

 

Toyota USA says to "visually inspection" the brakes every 5K miles or 6 months, whichever comes first. Essentially a look over when the tires are being rotated. They also say to do an in-depth inspection, every 30K miles or 3 years. Take a look at the Warranty and Maintenance Booklet to confirm. If you're missing it you can download a pdf from Toyota Tech Info (just google that expression), in the Manuals sections.

Toyota seems to hide their lamp under a basket, both for the the dealership service departments and DIY'rs. The Repair Manual has info, but it's all mooshed together, everything including a regular inspection to a complete caliper overhaul.

Also, I get the sense from people here, that the US dealerships are not pushing brake inspections; maybe they're not lucrative? And a lot here seem to equate "brake job" with "the pads are shot". And why do it: the brakes are fiiine... Again, Toyota is saying tri-yearly or 30K miles: in-depth inspection. It's a classic "you can pay me now, or...". The silver lining: you can DIY this, with a little care.

1. Disconnect 12 volt battery negative cable. You may get away with not doing this, if you tape the driver's door shut, are really vigilant, but all it takes is one slip...: disconnect the 12 volt battery negative cable.

2. Follow the steps in the (attached) Repair Manual, for front and rear brake caliper lift-off and reinstall. Inspect and clean the pads and shims, lay them out orderly on clean surface. Measure and record all the pad remaining thickeness. Clean the contact points on the caliper, piston, inspect the piston boot.

Pull the caliper glide pins and wipe them clean. Wipes clean the boots, rotate them gently, lube lightly, relube the pins (a couple of pea sized dabs), reinstall, twisting as you go to avoid scraping off the lube. Burp the boots to reduce air.

If you've noticed any pulsing, and/or the brakes are getting on, attach a dial indicator with magnetic base, check the rotor runout. Also measure thickness with micrometer.

Reassemble the pads with their shims, applying lube sparingly to all faying surfaces (points of contact). Also apply a slight amount to the piston face, keeping clear of the boot, and to the caliper fingers that contact pads on the other side.

Reposition pad/shim assemblies on the caliper mounting bracket, with very light lube on the pad ends where it contacts (avoid getting lube on rotor), reinstall any anti-rattle clips, ease on the caliper, install and torque it's bolts.

In particular with the rear brakes, pay special attention to the piston orientation, see the attachment. The spoke pattern on the piston MUST be oriented like an X, so that the pin on back of adjacent pad is between spokes.

When everything is assembled, front and rear, apply the brake pedal multiple times, to solidly seat the brakes. Failing to do this, the car may subsequently detect excess brake pedal travel, display a fault code. Do not apply the parking brake yet.

Reconnect the 12 volt battery negative cable, and take the car for a short test drive. Go very easy on the brakes. Upon return, apply release the parking brake several times. Then raise the rear, and (with parking brake released) spin the wheels. They should easily spin a revolution or two. If they drag, there's a good possibility the piston rotated, and this should be checked and fixed.

Lubes, and this is just my preference, they're readilly available, and caused no problems:

Pads to shims to caliper: Permatex Anti-Seize
Caliper glide pins: Sil-Glyde Brake Lubricant

 

Budget for replacing the rear shocks and front struts. The OEM's will not last 300k. Lots of variables on how long they will last, but, suggest at 150k or sooner if your wife complains about ride quality.

 

I’m at 181k, I’m hoping to swap out the suspension once it becomes bad. I haven’t felt anything yet we will wait and see at 300k miles

 

I waited until 211k miles to change the OEM shocks and struts which I don't recommend doing. These are highway miles, but, at that point I could feel the smallest bump in the road. It was so bad it become a handling/safety issue and I would have parked the car if they were not replaced. Certainly would not let anyone else drive it in that condition.